More states are deducting child support from casino jackpots, but not Illinois

Proposal here met resistance from gambling lobby — and state agency

October 04, 2011|By Bill Ruthhart, Tribune reporter

People flock to the Rivers Casino in Des Plaines on opening day in July. Illinois casinos, unlike a growing number of their counterparts, do not check for child support debt before payouts. (Antonio Perez, Chicago Tribune)

Hundreds of gamblers have stood outside the casino cage, adrenaline still pumping from their big win, only to be told the money they are there to collect has been confiscated — for their kids.

Several states have passed laws forcing casinos to intercept the winnings of deadbeat parents who owe child support, but not Illinois.

Efforts to start a similar system here have been stopped cold — not only by the powerful casino lobby, but by the state agency that collects child support, which has voiced concerns over how such a program would be implemented.

In four states that already withhold winnings from parents who owe child support, the Tribune found the systems have been effective, collecting nearly $3 million while creating few hassles for casinos.

Multiple jackpots have been taken from some parents, including one in Colorado whose winnings have been seized 11 times, officials said.

"These people are taking their kids' money and they are throwing it in a slot machine," said Joel Judd, a former Colorado legislator who wrote the country's first casino child support law. "They are putting a lot of money into these machines and games over a long period of time, and it's not their money.

"I'm glad we found a way to collect it."

Buying in

It wasn't easy.

For five years, Colorado's casinos fought off the legislation, until Judd pushed it through in 2007.

He got the idea while working as a Denver attorney. One of his clients was awarded restitution in court, and the woman who owed the money won $5,000 at a casino. Judd said when he tried to collect for his client, the money had already been spent.

Realizing the problem with deadbeat parents was even more widespread, he started pressing for casinos to check for child support debts when certain gamblers win.

Since the law took effect in July 2008, Colorado has seized winnings 810 times, for a total of $1.25 million, according to state child support figures.

The law requires casinos to check gamblers who win a jackpot of $1,200 or more at a gaming machine — the same threshold at which a winner has to fill out a federal tax form. Table game winners fill out forms only if they win with a hand at extreme odds — at least 300-to-1 — and collect more than $600.

If a gambler meets those criteria, a casino employee types the winner's Social Security number into a state computer system to see if there is a match. If the winner owes, the system tells the casino how much to confiscate.

Colorado made its first collection the day the law was implemented. It reeled in more than $500,000 in 2008 and has averaged $336,000 the last two years.

The state's largest intercept to date was for more than $35,000, and one gambler's winnings were confiscated by casinos six times for a total of $44,100, said Paula Brown, a child support official who administers the program.

One Colorado man's 11 casino jackpots totaling more than $15,000 have been sent to his children.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels called for a similar program in 2010, and in its first year the state has collected winnings 382 times for $736,000.

One parent had $18,500 confiscated, and 40 gamblers have had jackpots garnisheed multiple times.

"It's happened over and over with some people, where they hit big and whatever they win is minus the child support," said Ann Houseworth, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Department of Child Services. "Sometimes they get some money, sometimes it's pennies, sometimes it's nothing, but they keep coming back.

"It just shows you what their priorities are."

The house wins

Many states — including Illinois — already check lottery winners to ensure they do not owe child support.

That's what led Gary Peterlin to push for a similar check at casinos in 2005. Then a member of the Illinois Gaming Board, he approached state Rep. Patricia Bellock, R-Hinsdale, about introducing a bill.

Peterlin, a LaSalle County attorney, and Bellock met with casino representatives and state child support officials, but the concept failed.

"I ran into a lot of resistance," Bellock said. "The riverboat companies were all over it. All I seemed to get was opposition."

And not just from the casinos.

Child support officials opposed the proposal, citing concerns about red tape and making a computer database available to casinos, Bellock and Peterlin said.

"The child support folks' issues weren't presented in a way that suggested it would be a big problem," Peterlin said. "I was shocked they weren't gung ho about it."

The same opposition developed again this March when Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, D-Urbana, proposed a bill that would have required horse tracks and casinos to check winners for owed child support.

It died in a committee hearing, where not only track and casino owners lined up to oppose it, but also two officials from the state agency charged with collecting child support.